Synopsis of Citi Self Invest
Although Citigroup is mostly known for its credit cards and deposit accounts through Citibank, the financial conglomerate also offers brokerage accounts through Citi Self Invest. Citi Self Invest is a digital self-directed investment platform of Citi Personal Wealth Management, with securities offered through Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Before opening your next investment account, be sure to check out our review of this often-overlooked brokerage service.
Citi Self Invest Services
Traders at Citi Self Invest can buy and sell mutual funds, stocks, closed-end funds, and exchange-traded funds online. Citi’s current pricing schedule also covers fixed-income transactions in Citi Self Invest accounts, including Treasuries, agency securities, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and certificates of deposit. Options are not available through Citi Self Invest, and all accounts are self-directed.
Robo accounts are available through Citi Wealth Builder, a separate investment-advisory program offered by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Citi Wealth Builder’s Active models use ETFs and mutual funds, while its Sustainable and Index models use ETFs. Citi Wealth Builder Plus is also available for an additional cost. It provides access to Wealth Solutions Advisors and a limited-purpose, goal-specific financial plan.
In addition to individual taxable accounts, Citi Self Invest and Wealth Builder now offer Individual Retirement Accounts. To open, but not maintain, an investing account, Citi requires the applicant to have an active deposit account, such as a checking, savings, or money market account.
Although Citi has a decent low-cost investing service, it is definitely missing some important features.
For example, Charles Schwab has many more tax structures, including custodial accounts and self-employed 401(k) plans.
And Charles Schwab offers trading in futures, forex, options, and foreign stocks, all of which are missing from Citi Self Invest. However, bonds are no longer entirely missing because Citi’s current fee schedule covers fixed-income transactions in Citi Self Invest accounts.
Security Analysis
To analyze potential investments, Citi offers a few basic research tools on its website and mobile app. On either platform, the fund screener is the same. It can search by fund type, such as mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, and asset class. Examples of the latter include:
- Alternatives
- Bonds
- Commodities
- Equities
- Mixed Assets
- Money Market
Unfortunately, there are no other search variables. Search results can be sorted by several criteria, including five-year return and last price. There is no stock screener, so this is the end of the line here.
Asset profiles on the Citi website and mobile app have limited information. There are news articles from Reuters and company data, such as market capitalization and shares outstanding. Funds have ratings from Lipper.
Banking Products
Although Citi Self Invest is offered by one of the largest financial-services companies in the world, a brokerage account does not come with any noteworthy cash-management tools. A checkbook or debit card is not available, for example.
It is possible to link a Citibank account to a Citi Self Invest or Citi Wealth Builder account, however. In fact, linked accounts are displayed together on both the website and mobile app. Citi credit cards are displayed there, too. It is easy to transfer funds between eligible accounts.
Computer Trading
Citi Self Invest customers get a basic website for managing accounts, researching securities, and placing trades. Although the software is user-friendly, it fails to deliver a sophisticated experience. For example, the trade ticket has only three trade types: market, limit, and stop. A cash account cannot be used for short selling, which further limits the professional-level trading experience.
Charting on the website is also very basic. For example, a graph has only one plot style—a line—and there are no tools of any kind. There are no technical studies or drawing tools, for example.
Another feature missing from the Citi website is a separate browser-based trading platform. The regular website is therefore the end of the browser-based experience. Citi also has no downloadable desktop trading program, so its simple website is the end of the line.
Other broker-dealers do a much better job in the software category. Schwab, for instance, offers the thinkorswim platform suite, which includes advanced desktop, web, and mobile platforms. Thinkorswim provides professional-level order tickets, advanced charts, technical studies, and drawing tools.
Mobile Trading
Moving on to the mobile app, we see much the same situation. Trading tools are very simple, with basic charts and the same bare-bones order ticket. Profiles once again have very limited information. The platform is easy to use, though.
The watchlist syncs with the website, meaning it has the same securities as the watchlist on the website. Multiple lists can be created, and it is easy to switch among them.
Because the app is the same one that Citibank customers use, there are many cash-management tools on it. For example, we found resources for loans, credit cards, FICO scores, and bank products.
Citi Self Invest Fees
Although Citi has so far failed to deliver very much, it certainly does not charge much for its self-directed investing service. Online and mobile trades of equities and standard ETFs have $0 commissions. Commission-free ETF trading excludes leveraged and inverse ETFs. Online mutual fund trades may have no transaction fee, although fund expenses and other charges can apply. Fixed-income transactions can include markups, markdowns, or other costs. Placing a trade over the phone could also incur a surcharge.
Managed accounts have annual fees of 0.25% for Citi Wealth Builder and 0.60% for Citi Wealth Builder Plus. These fees do not include the internal expenses of the ETFs and mutual funds held in the portfolios or certain service fees. Self-directed accounts have no annual advisory fee, although account-transfer, retirement-account termination, wire, and other service fees may apply.
Margin Trading
Citi Self Invest now offers margin capability to eligible customers who opt in by completing an
additional agreement. Margin rates are tiered and are calculated by adding or subtracting a
specified spread from the Citi Base Rate. Retirement accounts and Citi Wealth Builder advisory accounts
are not eligible for purpose margin loans. This feature is also available at
Webull, which offers margin borrowing, short selling for eligible customers, and complex options strategies.
Supplementary Services
Fractional-Share Trading: Citi Self Invest customers can buy securities using whole dollars instead of whole shares. Citi restricts this service to limit and market orders.
IPO Access: Citi Self Invest does not offer access to upcoming Initial Public Offerings.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: Citi Self Invest has a DRIP service, and it is free of charge.
Fully-Paid Stock Lending: Traders at Citi cannot earn additional income by lending their shares.
IRA Service: Citi Self Invest and Wealth Builder now offer Roth and Traditional accounts.
Extended Hours: Only the regular market session can be used at Citi.
Automatic Mutual Fund Purchases: It is possible to set up systematic mutual fund purchases inside a Citi Self Invest account.
Our Recommendations
Mutual Fund Trading: Citi Self Invest customers can trade 814 mutual funds.
Charles Schwab customers can trade 5,926 funds. Plus, Schwab’s website has many more fund tools, including a much better screener and a comparison tool.
Retirement Planning and Long-Term Investing: A Citi Wealth Builder Plus account—the hybrid automated and human-advisor account—opened as an IRA would do a decent job of planning for the future.
Active Equity Trading: Because of Citi’s simple software, we cannot recommend it for frequent stock trading, especially given the limited research materials and short-selling capabilities. Schwab does a much better job, though.
Small Accounts: Citi does not require a deposit to open a brokerage account. Citi Wealth Builder requires $5,000 for an Index model and $10,000 for an Active or Sustainable model, while Citi Wealth Builder Plus requires $25,000. A Self Invest account would work well for small accounts because of the availability of fractional-share trading.
Beginners: An automated account with Citi Wealth Builder would be a good way to start investing. A Plus account with access to financial planning would be even better.
Citi Brokerage Review Verdict
Although Citi Self Invest does not charge much for its investing and trading program, it does not
deliver much, either.
Updated on 6/18/2026.
Chad Morris has been analyzing investment firms for Brokerage-Review.com since 2015. Backed by FINRA Series 65, 66, and SIE credentials, his work reflects a deep knowledge of the retail brokerage industry and digital trading tools.
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